Poll: Are video games underappreciated art?

Eaten By Lions

We often hear praises for fantastic art: paintings, movies, TV series, music, writing, etc...

But rarely does mainstream media praise video games for their art direction. Which is odd because in a video game, there are so many elements that individually are seen as great art. Dialog and story, art direction, interesting concepts and metaphors that relate to a bigger picture or comment on a worldly issue, etc...

So why are video games considered nerdy and silly when other thing are celebrated on talk shows, in mainstream media, on news stations and other platforms that reach to a general audience?

duybeeGAshantiGA

rushing in thinking it was about a Lana's song..

however, yes, tho I dont play videogames, I think they need to be recognised more to be a great kind of art.

RomanNavy

To a certain extent it is art but it can't be compared to music, writing, paintings etc.

Haus

Not really, I love video games but there isn't much diversity or effort put into the artistic side. If there were more games like Heavy Rain and Journey, video games would get lots more praise.

Stephen

Absolutely. A game like Mass Effect or Bioshock tell much better stories than many huge, commercially successful movies like The Hunger Games for example. It's a shame that people undermine video games' storytelling or artistic merit because of a shallow understanding of them as these things that only certain people play for certain reasons. They have just as much capacity for social commentary than any other media.

Kingfisher

i don't think video games are art

roger ebert wrote some stuff on video games as a form of art which is p interesting to read

I Am Music

Yes they are, playing the new tomb raider was better than watching any current action film out right now.
Agreed about Mass Effect.

madonnafan18

Quote:

Originally posted by Kingfisher

i don't think video games are art

roger ebert wrote some stuff on video games as a form of art which is p interesting to read

Disagree immensely. Video games are just as much an art as every other form of entertainment.

MaRy

strategy videogames >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> life

Eaten By Lions

Quote:

Originally posted by Stephen

Absolutely. A game like Mass Effect or Bioshock tell much better stories than many huge, commercially successful movies like The Hunger Games for example. It's a shame that people undermine video games' storytelling or artistic merit because of a shallow understanding of them as these things that only certain people play for certain reasons. They have just as much capacity for social commentary than any other media.

Right? The story is even more dynamic because in a lot of instances you can interact with it. So the aspects of the story that relate to you as an individual can change according to your perspective. There isn't a lot of other art out there that can really do that to that capacity.

Quote:

Originally posted by Kingfisher

i don't think video games are art

roger ebert wrote some stuff on video games as a form of art which is p interesting to read

Did he drag?

I Am Music

Quote:

Originally posted by Kingfisher

i don't think video games are art

roger ebert wrote some stuff on video games as a form of art which is p interesting to read

It was pure drivel not an interesting read at all then again he was an old man who was out of touch.

GGD

Some Video Games are well researched and detailed, unlike some of the movies nowadays.
so yes Video Games are to be considered as ART.

Nathan's Nicely

Quote:

Originally posted by Stephen

Absolutely. A game like Mass Effect or Bioshock tell much better stories than many huge, commercially successful movies like The Hunger Games for example. It's a shame that people undermine video games' storytelling or artistic merit because of a shallow understanding of them as these things that only certain people play for certain reasons. They have just as much capacity for social commentary than any other media.

Flawless post.

Anyone that says no..

I Am Music

Quote:

Ebert famously (among gamers anyway) declared “Video games can never be art,” subsequently explaining and defending his position in a blog post at the Chicago Sun-Times in 2010. He grappled with the always elusive definition of art and what has become these days an elusive definition of what constitutes a “game.” He concluded:

Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art? Bobby Fischer, Michael Jordan and Dick Butkus never said they thought their games were an art form. Nor did Shi Hua Chen, winner of the $500,000 World Series of Mah Jong in 2009. Why aren't gamers content to play their games and simply enjoy themselves? They have my blessing, not that they care.

Do they require validation? In defending their gaming against parents, spouses, children, partners, co-workers or other critics, do they want to be able to look up from the screen and explain, "I'm studying a great form of art?" Then let them say it, if it makes them happy.

Quote:

His attitude didn’t resolve the debate. That one blog post garnered nearly 5,000 comments. A couple months later he addressed the matter again, admitting that it was unfair of him to judge a medium in part because he personally was not interested in engaging in it. He preferred books and movies. He didn’t want to play video games.

http://reason.com/blog/2013/04/04/th...ssed-video-gam

http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-jou...n-never-be-art

Eaten By Lions

Quote:

Originally posted by I Am Music

It was pure drivel not an interesting read at all then again he was an old man who was out of touch.

omg I read a bit and....

I Am Music

I mean

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Eaten By Lions

I mean this game that drew complex and intricate metaphors and parallels to Chopin's life though a fantasy dream world >>>>>>>>>>>>>

I Am Music

Quote:

Originally posted by Eaten By Lions

I mean this game that drew complex and intricate metaphors and parallels to Chopin's life though a fantasy dream world >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yaass i loved this game.

Hoetenks

Not all games can be considered art, but to say all video games are not art is just

TextEdit

YES.